XC Top 50 Rankings: #40-31

40. Andrew Stanley, Sr Southern Huntington (6 A)

Southern Huntington isn’t exactly a hotbed for cross country discussion on this blog. But Andrew Stanley put this school on the map during the stretch run of his 2017 outdoor season. After starting the season with marks of 4:50 and 10:27, Stanley rolled all the way down to 4:29 and 9:47 at his district championship meet. But Stanley wasn’t finished yet. At the state championships, the junior unlocked a 9:29.06 PR in the 3200, running a gutsy front-running style race and holding on.

In Cross Country, Stanley didn’t quite hit the same heights he did during track, but he still had a good amount of success. He finished 3^rd at his district championships and then 36^th at the state championships (a second straight top 40 finish).

After Tristan Forsythe, the A state landscape is fairly wide open. 15 of the top 20 finishers from a year ago have graduated. And no returners who finished ahead of Stanley at states ran a faster 3200 time than his 9:29. That’s a great sign and, although track is not necessarily the same beast as cross country, I like Stanley’s odds at putting together a big season in the small school ranks.

39. Kyle Burke, Abington Heights (2 AAA)

A year ago, Abington Heights surprised me with an upset victory at the District 2 XC Championships. The team was led by a fantastic 1-3 finish from juniors Kyle Burke and Dan Uhranowsky. On the track, this pair only got better as they rolled to big PRs seemingly around every turn. Burke dropped down to 4:20 for 1600 and just missed a spot in the state finals. Uhranowsky was a 4:22/1:58 performer.

Burke gets the nod on his list for his multiple district championships. He was the champ last fall in XC and he also won the 1600 title on the track, defeating Tyler Wirth. Burke seems to be gaining a lot of momentum and confidence. During his XC, he struggled at states, finishing 144^th, but this past track season he welcomed the challenge and raced to a PR. Having a great training partner in Uhranowsky, who has the potential to be just as strong, should bring out the best in him as well.

38. Cameron Binda, Jr Greensburg Salem (3 AA)

Greensburg Salem had a big breakthrough in 2016. The WPIAL XC Champions took down a loaded field and set themselves up to make a run at the state title in Hershey against a pair of very good teams in Dallas and York Suburban. Although they ultimately came up short, the team still left with a ton of confidence, which carried into the track season where GS ran 7:51.29 in the 4x8.

One of the key cogs in that equation was sophomore Cameron Binda. Cameron produced a sub 2 minute 800 split and dropped new PRs of 4:22 and 9:37 on the track. Those last two were the fastest on the team. Binda was solid during the cross country season as well, consistently finishing as a top three runner along with fellow sophomore Mark Brown and now graduated senior Frankie King. Binda’s best performance of the year came at the WPIAL championships, where he placed 6^th overall in AA. A week later, he added a 26^th place finish in the state, a second straight top 40 finish at states before his junior year even started.

Binda’s fastest 5k mark actually comes from his freshman season, where he placed 6^th at WCCs with a 16:21. During his sophomore season, Binda got off to a bit slower of a start as King and Brown stole the early headlines. However, by the end of 2017 Binda was doing a terrific job across a wide spectrum of events. If he comes into this next fall with that same momentum, he’s going to be tough to stop.

37. Ryan Stravaggi, Jr Harbor Creek (10 AA)

There are few runners who can claim to be district champions and state medalists. And an even smaller contingent that have accomplished all that before they’ve even started their junior season. But Ryan Stravaggi completed that feat last year when, after winning the District 10 AA title as a freshman, he grabbed 20^th spot at states as a sophomore.

District 10 is no joke. It’s filled with quality programs like Grove City and it’s got a ton of young talent. Last year, 8 of the top 10 finishers from the AA district championships were returners, including 5 sophomores and a freshman. That doesn’t even count super soph Jonah Powell, who medaled at states as a freshman but was a surprise miss at districts. A lot of those returners went on to grab medals at states including Stravaggi, his teammates Aiden Weber and Christian Babo, and General McLane’s Erik Andrzejewski.

Stravaggi has proven he might be the best out of all of these guys. He has a great training group and he has proven he can rise to the occasion at districts and states. He made solid improvements on the track this year as well, dropping his 1600 best to 4:26 and taking second at his district meet. Last XC season, he was 2^nd at Slippery Rock, 5^th at Sharpsville, and 3^rd at the Harbor Creek Invite. I expect him to continue to be at the front of these top fields and, as he makes that pivotal sophomore to junior jump, he could start hanging up some golds in his trophy case.

36. Elias Lindgren, Sr Episcopal Academy (Independent)

With Nick Dahl now graduating for the Ivy League, the top spot in the Independent League seems up for grabs. Episcopal was a program that really impressed this past track season, taking their talents all the way to the national championships in the DMR where they clocked a season best 10:32.

Leading the way for this squad was Elias Lindgren, a breakout performer and Oscar nominee in 2017. Lindgren held his own in the always loaded Delco league and dropped times of 9:27 and 4:24 at the championship meet. Lindgren also earned a pair of silver medals at the Independent League state championships on the track, losing to Owen Ritz and budding independent league rival Peter Borger in the 1600 and 3200 respectively.

Lindgren isn’t the most proven XC performer, but he’s had some glimpses of potential. He was 8^th at the independent league championships and 9^th at DELCOs last fall. He’s the #5 returner for independent states it what is sure to be a hotly contested championship. One of those guys will be a breakout star. My money, right now, is on Lindgren.

35. Peter Borger, Sr Malvern Prep (Independent)

As alluded to, the independent crop has a lot of budding stars. There’s Jeffrey Love who, as a sophomore, finished 2^nd at the Independent League State Championships (and also clocked a sub 16 at William Tennent). There’s also GFS’s Colin Riley who was 4^th at states and comes from a powerhouse program (Riley ran 1:57 and 4:25 on the track). But I opted to through Malvern Prep’s Peter Borger as the top guy on my list.

Borger finished 3^rd at last year’s independent state championships and then followed up with great results on the track. He clocked a 9:08 indoors for 3k and then added 4:26 and 9:39 times on the 400 meter loop. His biggest victory came at independent states when he edged out Lindgren by a second for the 3200 title.

Borger proved he could handle hills when he grabbed a second place finish at the Briarwood Invitational in September, running 17 flat at Belmont. He was also second at the very difficult Salesianum lay out, running 16:56. I think this kid has the tools to run a great time at states next year and assert himself as the state champion, but he won’t get anything easy from Love, Riley or Lindgren. And, hey, maybe another runner is looming the shadows waiting to emerge as Independent League champ.

I do know this, whoever becomes the top dog in that league will likely shoot up this list. Guys like Dahl, Sam Ritz, and Jaxson Hoey have been the best in recent years and they’ve been top 10 rankers. Keep going back and you will recognize names like Sami Aziz, Dustin Wilson, Gus McKenzie and Max Kaulbach, all national caliber XC runners. So don’t sleep on the independent league.

34. Andrew Sullivan, Sr Hershey (3 AAA)

In his first appearance on the XC scene, Andrew Sullivan really broke out last year. He started the year as the #1 runner on a strong Hershey team, taking 28^th at the PTXC Invitational. Then he made it clear he had arrived thanks to a 15:54 16^th place finish at the Carlisle Invite, finishing among some really impressive names. Then, Sullivan closed out the year with an 8^th at Mid Penns, 11^th at Districts and a 50^th at states in his first appearance on the Hershey hills.

It’s hard to not see big talent when you look at Sullivan. He has run 4:22 or faster each of the past two track seasons and owns a PR of 9:35 in the 3200 from 2016. Although he didn’t drop any big PRs on the track, Sullivan should really benefit from an extra year of XC training under his belt, particularly on the state hills. He still has an incredible core to train with as well as Hershey returns accomplished rising junior Mike Morris as well.

33. Matt Busche, Sr Franklin Regional (7 AAA)

One of the biggest surprises of this past track season was the boys of Franklin Regional. This school dropped into the low 7:50s on more than one occasion thanks in large part to 1:54 man Matt Busche. Busche capped off his outdoor season in style, setting a PR for himself during his 4^th race of the weekend at the state finals. The strength he showcased while doubling could be a big indicator of things to come for him on the trails.

Although he proved to have a ton of speed on the track, Busche had some impressive moments in XC. On the hilly Hershey course, Matt was 53^rd overall at states. He was also 13^th in the WPIAL a week previously. He picked up top 10 finishes at Slippery Rock and Sharpsville during the regular season and learned a lot about top tier cross country running from teammate and WPIAL champion Mark Provenzo.

Busche grew a lot over the course of last season as a distance performer, finishing outside the top 30 in his first two invites and advancing to a consistent front runner by season’s end. But he still needs to make another jump on the trails to prove he is worthy of a top 35 ranking. That being said, 1:54 speed is an x-factor that few others in the state have in their back pocket for the end of a race.

32. Ethan Koza, Sr CR North (1 AAA)

By the numbers, Koza is the #16 returner in AAA. He runs for a great program and will have a dynamite core of training partners with returning state medalists in Sam Early and Ryan Campbell. It seems like a no brainer that Koza gets a marquee spot on this list and you could make a very good argument he belongs even higher than he’s slotted.

Koza slipped into the background for much of this past year as others stole the spotlight. He was the #5 man on his team at districts and states, despite placing in the top 50 and running 16 flat. On the track, he was a relative afterthought as well, having dropped times of 4:24 and 9:42, but being slotted behind a slew of state qualifiers in other events.

The bottom line is, Koza has been slept on for a long time. He’s even being slept on for this list. Wouldn’t be surprised at all if this turns around and he becomes a top 20 kinda guy by the end of season rankings.

31. Mitchell Etter, Sr State College (6 AAA)

It’s easy to think of State College as a track school, but this school quietly has become an excellent cross country school. Not only that, SC also extended its streak of having at least one different sub 9:35 runner to 4 straight years this past track season when their secret weapon dropped a 9:27 at the Shippensburg Invite.

Mitchell Etter made a big leap, running 9:27 for 3200 after running just 9:28 indoors for 3,000 meters. But that wasn’t the first time he’s stunned us. In the team’s opening race of the season last fall, Etter won the JV race with a time of 16:44, a margin of victory of over 90 seconds. Once Etter got in the varsity section, he proved this race was no fluke with a 5^th place finish at the Spiked Shoe Invite. Unfortunately, an injury cut Etter down before he could really get into his groove. This year, if he stays healthy, I think he’ll be a factor in AAA for the top 15-20, trying to keep State College in the medals for a 5^th straight year.